One topic planned for the September print issue of the magazine; local authority work in what is called the wider police family.
Croydon Council in July council introduced neighbourhood enforcement officers in its bid to beat crime and anti-social behaviour.
There will be one uniformed officer for every ward, who will work alongside Safer Neighbourhood teams, and in the town centre. They will have the power to tackle anti-social behaviour by issuing fixed penalty notices and gathering evidence. This is part of the borough’ s Crime Reduction Strategy (2006 to 2009), the aim, the local authority stresses, is to cut crime by 20 per cent by 2008
Other proposed measures include naming and shaming the worst perpetrators of anti-social behaviour, making full use of dispersal orders, ASBOs and acceptable behaviour agreements and deploying multi-agency patrols to hit what the council calls anti-social behaviour hotspots.
A new digital mobile CCTV system will work in support antisocial behaviour cases and the borough’s CRAC (Croydon Radio Against Crime) radio crime scheme will be extended to Thornton Heath. Also promised, more of fixed penalty notices for perpetrators of noise, nuisance, graffiti, flytipping, public disorder and anti-social behaviour.
What they say
Steve O’Connell, cabinet member for public protection and crime reduction. said: “The introduction of neighbourhood enforcement officers who can actually act to help stop crime and anti-social behaviour should hopefully encourage Croydon’s residents that we are serious about combating crime. Making Croydon a safer place to live, to work and to visit is a top priority for the council and our partners and by working together we are determined to beat crime and the fear of crime.”
Havering Council reports how its mobile patrol section caught four young people throwing stones at windows in King’s Wood School in the London borough.
Shortly after midday on Sunday, July 2, mobile patrol officers were called to the school when an intruder alarm was activated. On arriving at the school they found a pane of glass in a door was missing. They searched the area and found the four youths throwing stones at windows in another part of the school. When the young people saw the mobile patrol they ran off but were eventually detained by the officers and held until the police arrived. The youths were then taken to Romford Police Station. Havering’s Interim CCTV & Mobile Patrol Manager, Karen McKinnon, said: "This is an excellent example of the efficient working of a schools intruder alarm system and the response of our mobile patrol officers, to prevent this kind of anti-social behaviour."
